Metamorphosis
by Ya Nefer Ma'at
Summary: How did Darth Maul come to have his unique colouration?
1. Chapter 1

Genre: Star Wars I 'The Phantom Menace' fan fiction, speculating on how Maul obtained his unique colouration.

Disclaimer: Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, and the Star Wars universe belong to George Lucas. I only borrowed them, without intent to harm or profit or to otherwise misuse them. The cover art is by Nicky Barkla, and is used with his permission. His excellent art may be found on DeviantArt under "Nicky Barkla" and on Facebook under "NickyBarklaArt" . 'Metamorphosis' contains violence and the suggestion of adult situations, so read it only if these things won't offend you! – Ya Nefer Ma'at

Metamorphosis

by Ya Nefer Ma'at

Chapter 1

"Client for you, Sir."

Kail looked up, a ghost of annoyance on her face. Selkur stood stiffly before her desk. Kail was about to berate her assistant: "Body by Design" handled its myriad customers without any of them bothering her; after all, that's why she employed a large staff.

As she drew a preparatory breath, her new client stepped forward, standing silently and looking down at her from the depth of his deep cowl. Kail abandoned her string of recriminations, her anger lost in the dark power of her client's gaze. She stared into those eyes, dimly aware of her surroundings, consumed in swirling arctic winds that somehow originated from the cowled man. A worm of icy power slithered through her when he gestured, studying her empty face with clinical detachment. Looking dumbly at him, Kail concentrated, eventually forcing her slack jaw to obey her and close. When her new client summarily dismissed Selkur, Kail tried to protest, but both her words and her quick flash of fury were swept away in the howling arctic storm that the other radiated.

As Selkur left, the man stood calmly, a slight smile easing the hard line of his handsome lips. Kail blinked, shaking her head as the crippling cold eased. She straightened to look carefully at her guest, fearing that a Jedi had finally found her carefully hidden, mostly illegal, business.

"Welcome and peace, Sir." Kail heard her words as if from a distance, her gaze cautiously tracking his expression. "What may I do for you?"

"You are the owner?"

Kail wanted to lie, but something about the way he was smiling warned her not to. "I-I am." She scowled, swallowing. "Eshva Kail, at your service. Will you be seated, Sir?"

He inclined his head in return, dropping his hood and smoothly swinging his full black cloak from his shoulders. The man revealed was powerfully built, lithe and agile in his movements. He boldly exposed a long light sabre when he shed his shroud, confirming Kail's fear that a Jedi stood before her. Dropping his cloak on a chair, the man settled opposite Kail. Through-out, he maintained intense eye contact with her, his dark eyes drilling into hers as if to have her soul.

His black garments rustled in the tense silence as he produced a holo-emitter from the folds of his tunic. Extending his black gloved hand to Kail, he activated the device. A holographic man sprang to life before her, rotating slowly to show intricate full body tattoos. Kail studied the image, then raised her gaze once more to face his searing stare.

"You wish to be decorated with these markings?"

She was unable to keep the edge out of her voice, believing that he was toying with her. Surely he would strike her down, standing as judge and executioner to her as a Jedi had to her mentor, condemning and killing him as she watched. Only her quick anger had stopped her from being scared off by that Jedi bastard. Defiant, she had taken up the reins of her mentor's business, to prevent his death from being his defeat. She owed her mentor that much, for his tutelage and his love.

Her guest nodded, oddly tense. "And I wish to have horns."

_Horns_, Kail thought, eyebrows momentarily jumping. Could he be serious? A closer look at the image revealed a crown of short horns on the skull of the prototype.

"Can you do this?"

Kail leaned back, trying not to laugh. He was serious! What kind of crazy Jedi was he, wanting to be painted like a demon? Well, not that it mattered... she was certainly not one to judge the bizarre looks her clients desired, not in her business. She took the holo-projector from his palm to study the image more carefully. "We can colour you, certainly–"

"Not 'we': you, and you alone."

Again her eyebrows quirked. "–while engineering horns will require more effort. Are you using any particular race for your pattern?"

"I am not."

Kail glanced at his thick head of hair. "And your hair?"

"Goes."

Kail placed the image on the desk between them. She studied him in silence, seeking the sanctimonious duplicity that she believed to characterize the Jedi. At length, her fingers beat a restive rhythm, and she stirred, turning to the computer beside her. Aware of how his eyes tracked her, Kail accessed her gene bank. She turned her head slightly, deliberately skimming her gaze off the black abyss of his eyes. Glancing between the holo-image and the man, she mentally transformed him, imagining that the tableau playing out behind her eyes was mirrored in the black pools of his stare. As she mentally painted him, her fingers drifted over the computer controls, showing images in quick succession.

"This one." Kail spoke decisively, turning to the monitor and enlarging the image. A head was displayed, adorned with a crown of thorn-like horns. It was very similar to the holo-image displayed between them. Her guest leaned forward, allowing a slight smile to stretch his handsome lips.

"Yes." he purred, his gaze jumping from horn to horn as the image rotated. The result would be even better than he had envisioned. Frowning slightly, he circled around to stand behind Kail. He reached over her and froze the image as the head rotated to face him. At once, he knew that he must have the striking red and yellow eyes as well. From the description accompanying the image, he learned that he was to gain _Sovaar_ horns and iris colouration, using genes from a race found on the outer rim planet of _Byss_. When he looked down at Kail, the smile had returned.

She was staring up at him with a frown, her head tilted. "I can transform you as you wish, Sir. Should you opt for cosmetic colouration, you'll find that the colouring process is a bit uncomfortable, but the tenderness will disappear within a week. Cosmetic colouration will fade slightly over the first few weeks. Usually the colour is then good for years, though it will dull over the course of your life. I–"

He leaned down, bringing his handsome face closer to hers, violating her personal space to stare unblinking into her wide eyes.

"I don't want temporary colour. I want you to modify my skin genetically, so that the pattern will always be fresh. _Find the genes in your computer, woman_."

His words fell over her like a swarm of ice shards, catching her focus in a vortex of howling wind and ripping it from her. Before she knew what she was doing, she found herself searching her gene bank. It was easy to find a species with the vibrant red and velvet-black needed for his design. With her compliance, she felt the deep icy presence of his power within her pulling back.

"Yes..." he purred again, his lips pulled into a slight smile as he gazed at the image. "I will have those genes as well."

Kail struggled to escape the deadening cold, seeking heat in her anger at his bloody, sneaky Jedi mind tricks. _Vespra_ dragon and _Sovaar_ genes? Good. Adding two genes to his genome would double her ability to make the gene products poisonous to him. She would see to it that he would die screaming. The thought made her smile.

His soft laugh erased that smile. He flashed forward. Kail gasped when he wound one gloved hand through her hair and pulled her to him. Nose to nose, he held her, slowly increasing the ferocity of his stance. He was intrigued to see that she was more angry than frightened, and felt a quick excitement that she showed spirit. Feistiness had always attracted him.

"You will control the genes, woman, so that they are harmless within me." She gasped, her eyes growing wide, as he twisted his gloved hand in her hair. "If you dare to disobey me, I will know, and I will punish you." He let his words linger, leaving her to imagine what her punishment would entail. From the corner of his eye, he watched her hand slide over to her communication board.

"Selkur, this is Kail. I do not wish to be disturbed. Cancel our appointments and send everyone home. Secure the building. Do it _now_, Selkur! Understood?" Kail force herself to keep her anger tightly in check as her guest maintained his painful grip on her hair and his proximity, his smile a chilling celebration of her submission.

"Good girl.", he breathed, tilting his head slightly while keeping hers in his iron hold. She twitched when he forced his mouth over hers, taking a kiss in a way that left no doubt about his claim of dominion. He ran his gloved fingers along the line of her jaw, then lifted a thick strand of her hair to his lips. Her scent was very distracting. Kail tracked the emotions running over his face, holding her breath. A long moment held them uncertain, before his dark eyes hardened, and he pulled Kail out from behind her desk.

"Time for metamorphosis."


	2. Chapter 2

Genre: Star Wars I 'The Phantom Menace' fan fiction, speculating on how Maul obtained his unique colouration.

Disclaimer: Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, and the Star Wars universe belong to George Lucas. I only borrowed them, without intent to harm or profit or to otherwise misuse them. 'Metamorphosis' contains violence and the suggestion of adult situations, so read it only if these things won't offend you! – Ya Nefer Ma'at

Metamorphosis

by Ya Nefer Ma'at

Chapter 2

"No anaesthetics!" The dark Jedi growled, seizing Kail's wrist, squeezing it so hard that her fingers lost strength and the syringe fell from her grasp. "I will not be drugged or incapacitated in any way."

"T-the procedure is going to be painful, Sir."

"Then I'll be reborn screaming as loudly as when I escaped my dam's womb."

He released her, lying back on the operating table as Kail shot out of reach. She glanced at the door, frustrated that he had shorted the locking mechanism, trapping her in the laboratory with him. He touched the light sabre on the table by his side, snapping for her to continue. As she scanned him and programmed the computer, he barked questions out, being sure that he knew what she was doing at each step. He was silent for the period when the lasers shaved him, stripping off his thick head of hair and leaving him ready for the crown of horns.

"The next step is to introduce microdroids carrying the new gene inserts." Kail informed her client, eyeing him. "Inoculation is very painful, and will likely cause considerable nausea."

Kail swallowed, hesitating as she looked at him. Lord, he was impressive. Even lying naked on the operating table, he was threatening. Each measured breath raised his deep chest before flowing down the flat plane of his belly. Every inch of his smooth skin seemed to be stretched over lithe muscles, revealing power like a cat's, tensed and ready to be released with deadly effect.

"The result will be sharpest if you don't move while the droids enter you. Sir. If you thrash or jump, you'll blur the pattern."

His sharp look was answer enough. He set his jaw and nodded for the inoculation to begin. When the tide of machines spread over his body like a wave of hungry ants, all those muscles knotted. He refused to move or yell, even though pain screamed in his silence. It seemed like eternity as the grey tide disappeared, burrowing into every square inch of his skin. Kail drew closer, avidly seeking the metamorphosis.

"It's safe to move now."

And move he did, his eyes flashing red and yellow when he opened them. Kail gasped at his new eye colour. She tried to jump back, but he had her with his whip-fast speed. Swinging off the table, he pushed Kail before him, halting before a floor to ceiling mirror. He shuddered and howled as the invaders worked their magic, shaking Kail mercilessly as he suffered. Kail threw her weight ineffectively against his grip as his skin darkened and brightened.

Watching horns push through his scalp was horrifying. Soon, he had a full crown of thorns, with blood flowing in angry waves from their birthplaces. As the bold pattern claimed his skin, he threw Kail impatiently to the smooth floor, straddling her and controlling her struggling with contemptuous ease. Kail's eyes grew wide at the final product: he was transformed, vibrant red and liquid black rippling as he convulsed. She cowered under him as he stilled and regained his breath, air shuddering in and out of his tortured body.

He stood fluidly. Turning away from Kail, he moved before the mirror, his sunset gaze dancing over his new persona. Kail scrambled away, snatching his light sabre from the table and backing against the door. Her finger clumsily found the ignition, and a long red blade sprang to life. He ignored her, turning in graceful circles to admire his markings. Keeping a close eye on him, she quickly turned to the door, trying to bypass the shorted locking mechanism.

The light sabre tore itself from her hand. Kail whirled in time to see it fly into his open palm. He prowled forward, a new sadism glowing in his sunset eyes. Arctic waves of power radiated from him.

"That was foolish, wasn't it?" He laughed softly, idly twirling the weapon. "So. You've served me well, woman. How shall I... thank you?" His laugh was a caress of arctic air as he loomed over Kail. She pushed hard against the static door when he stroked her hair.

He turned slightly to contemplate the glow of his laser sword. Tilting his black and red head to look slyly down at her, he murmured, "Time to die, woman. My thanks will be to give you a quick death." He seemed lost in the glow of the blade as he continued, "Consider me generous. You'd be surprised at how much agony I can inflict with this sabre..." He focussed with a deep breath, facing Kail. His next words were heavy with glacial power. _"Kneel before me."_

Kail fell to her knees so hard that the sound echoed through-out the room. Her face briefly contorted despite the swirling cold dulling her reactions.

He looked down to meet her angry stare. A slow smile thinned his black and red lips; he reached down to trace her mouth with his black fingers.

"Don't worry, I won't deny you the full and exquisite final explosion of pain, that will carry you into death." The other hand raised the weapon to attack position.

The blade swept down. Kail felt the contact, felt her skin melt, heard the scream tear from her unwilling throat, before all went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Genre: Star Wars I 'The Phantom Menace' fan fiction, speculating on how Maul obtained his unique colouration.

Disclaimer: Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, and the Star Wars universe belong to George Lucas. I only borrowed them, without intent to harm or profit or to otherwise misuse them. 'Metamorphosis' contains violence and the suggestion of adult situations, so read it only if these things won't offend you! – Ya Nefer Ma'at

Metamorphosis

by Ya Nefer Ma'at

Epilogue

The Apprentice knelt, cowled head held low.

The Master Sith Lord stood, very still, staring into his Apprentice. The kneeling man was fired with an odd excitement, breathless in anticipation of his Master's reaction.

Tilting his head, Darth Sidious narrowed his eyes and relaxed into the Force. Waves of arctic power swirled around him and through-out the room, drawing a shudder from his young student. Behind his sharp eyes, Sidious saw the darkly beautiful form of his apprentice lying naked on a table, saw him screaming as the metamorphosis occurred. When he returned his focus to his student, Sidious too was excited. He stepped forward peremptorily, flinging the hood back to expose his apprentice's new persona.

Sunset eyes met Sidious' pale stare when he instructed his student to look up. With a quick, penetrating sweep of his gaze, Sidious anticipated the Sith design hidden by his student's clothing.

"Strip."

His student immediately obeyed, exposing the full pattern. He kept his eyes proudly forward as Sidious circled him. Sidious nodded approval, a slight smile easing the line of his mouth, and was answered by a hopeful smile.

"Excellent, my young apprentice. You are indeed ready to take your place as a Sith warrior. It is time to discard all vestiges of your former life, as you have your appearance, and to take your Sith name. I name you Darth Maul, Dark Lord of the Sith. Rise and serve me."

Those beautiful, evil yellow eyes lit up. _At last!_ Maul thought, knowing the naming was an important rite of passage for the Sith. He rose fluidly, excitement eloquent in his stance. "Thank you, Master. I live to serve you."

Again the slow, chilling smile. "Or die to serve me, my young apprentice, on my whim." Sidious purred.

"As you command, my Master." Maul draped his black cloak over his shoulder, bowing his head submissively.

"Excellent. Soon, very soon, we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi." Sidious spoke softly, his words laden with patient hatred. He called a holo-emitter to his palm, carrying it through the air on an icy breath of dark power. Activating it, Sidious held it out for Maul to study. "Take this weapon prototype to Genosis. Return with a report on their progress. Go."

Darth Maul took the holo-emitter and turned to go with a bow, acutely aware that Sidious' stare followed him.

The End.


End file.
